


Less is More

by hybridempress



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 12:26:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5708074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybridempress/pseuds/hybridempress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alfred and Arthur are going shopping for Christmas decor to decorate their apartment for the first Christmas that they are spending together, but they both have very different ideas on how the decor should be done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Less is More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theladyoflemons](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=theladyoflemons).



> THIS IS A RLY LATE CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR ONE OF MY BUDS I SHOULD HAVE HAD THIS WRITTEN FOR THEM WEEKS AGO AFTER I SAID I'D WRITE SOMETHING FOR THEM WHEN THEY DREW ME A FRANCE ICON FOR CHRISTMAS AND I FEEL SO BAD THAT I COULDN'T GET AROUND TO IT UNTIL NOW b ut I finally did... I h ope it was worth the wait... e ven if it's not Christmas anymore...

“So remind me again how many shops we have to go to today,” Arthur requested as he began to back the car out of the parking lot of the apartment building where he and Alfred lived.

“Well,” Alfred began, with a big smile on his face that told Arthur they were most likely going to be out all day, “first things first, we have to get a tree. That’s the priority.”

“Well we can just pick one up at Walmart or something, can’t we? And we can get ornaments from there, too. And lights, and whatever…” Arthur mused, pulling out of the parking lot entirely and driving into the main road.

Alfred’s eyes widened. “No way! We can’t get a tree from _Walmart!_ ” he exclaimed.

“Why ever not?” Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because we have to get a _real_ tree, Arthur! Not a plastic one! We have to go down to the tree farm and get a real one!” Alfred replied.

“Good Lord,” Arthur said, letting a quick sigh escape from his lips. “They’re not even going to let us bring a real tree into the apartment, Alfred. It’s too much work to move it inside and plus it's a fire hazard.”

Alfred pouted slightly. “Don’t be such a fuddy-duddy, Arthur. It’ll be fine!” he assured. 

“Fine, we’ll get a real tree,” Arthur agreed. “So where do we have to go after the tree farm?” he asked.

“Well, places like Walmart and Target are okay for ornaments I guess, but I’d really rather go to that specialty shop that always sells the fancy and cool looking ones that you can’t really find anywhere else,” Alfred replied.

“Okay. Tree farm and specialty shop. Anything else?” Arthur asked.

“After that we can go to Walmart to get lights and tinsel and whatever else!” Alfred exclaimed.

“Is that all?” Arthur inquired.

“Yep!” Alfred replied, and leaned back in his seat with a smile on his face.

Arthur hummed very faintly. The truth was that he hadn’t really wanted to go out today. Or any day, really. He knew that Christmas was coming up, but he dreaded the thought of having to go out and buy a bunch of Christmas decorations.

In all honesty, Arthur felt more comfortable with a small plastic tree with ornaments and lights that weren’t flashy, and maybe so lights or tinsel strung up in some places around the house. Years of living in a family with four older brothers, where they had always had such an extravagant Christmas, had made Arthur grateful for quiet holidays when he had moved away. Though, that was probably only because his brothers had always gotten out of hand during Christmas time, and Arthur had quite often been left behind.

Alfred, on the other hand, had never really had an extravagant Christmas. Everyone knew that Alfred’s father had never been the most caring man in the world, and it had always been up to Alfred and his little brother Matthew to make Christmas for themselves. When Alfred moved away, he had always found it depressing to think about having an extravagant Christmas if he didn’t have anyone to share it with.

Alfred didn’t seem to pick up on Arthur’s reluctance, and Arthur didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t want to ruin Alfred’s good time, after all. Alfred was the most important thing in the world to him. He just wanted Alfred to be happy. If going overboard with the Christmas decorations this year would make Alfred happy, then Arthur would just have to live with it. 

The nearest Christmas tree farm was half an hour away from their apartment. The time was spent with Alfred singing at the top of his lungs along to whatever Christmas carols happened to be playing on their favorite radio station. Arthur didn’t sing, but he couldn’t hide his smiles as he listened to the voice of his boyfriend singing the merry tunes. Alfred’s voice was very high on the short list of things that Arthur truly loved. 

When Arthur finally pulled into the parking lot of the Christmas tree farm, he was relieved to see that there didn’t appear to be anyone else there at the time. Though, that was most likely because it was below freezing outside and it was snowing. The farm looked more like an enchanted snowy forest than anything. Arthur wondered how they were ever going to pick out a decent tree when all of them were completely covered in snow, but Alfred’s spirits didn’t seem deterred in the slightest. 

Alfred had not even waited for Arthur to turn off the car before he unbuckled his seatbelt and raced out of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. Despite the fact that he was bundled up in a heavy winter coat, thick snow gloves, and a nice thick beanie, he still shivered and squeaked as the cold air hit his face when he stepped outside. The sooner they picked out their Christmas tree, the better.

Arthur turned off the car and exited it quickly, shivering as he made his way over to Alfred. Arthur grabbed Alfred’s hand as he passed by his boyfriend and began dragging him into the farm to find out where the owner was. Alfred, amused by Arthur’s apparent enthusiasm, bounced along beside him and helped to keep an eye out for the owner. 

Before long, they found the owner, walking around near the back of the farm and trying to make sure that all of the trees were okay while they were being attacked with the snow that was still pouring down on them. Alfred let go of Arthur’s hand when they found the owner and began walking more quickly towards him. Arthur kept following at the same pace he had been walking since he had gotten out of the car. 

“Excuse me sir, but we’d like to buy a Christmas tree!” Alfred exclaimed, stopping just behind the man and waiting for him to turn around.

The owner turned around and smiled jovially at Alfred, then waved at Arthur, who was standing behind his boyfriend. “Is that so?” he inquired. 

Alfred nodded his head eagerly.

The owner chuckled softly. “Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place, then. Tell me, fellas, how big of a tree are you looking for?” 

“Oh, just something small-”

“Pretty big-!”

Alfred and Arthur had answered the owner in unison, causing Alfred and the owner to turn and look at Arthur, and Arthur’s face to flush red. “W-well… W-we live in an apartment, you see. W-we’d like to get something big but we just don’t have the room for it,” he stammered. It was far from the truth, for him at least, but Alfred didn’t need to know that. 

“I got ya,” the owner said, winking at Arthur and Alfred. “I got just the tree for ya. Follow me,” he instructed, and began walking down one of the many aisles of trees that were on the farm.

Alfred followed behind the owner eagerly, while Arthur trailed behind once again. The owner led them down to the very end of the aisle he had been leading through before stopping in front of a tree that was a little set apart from the rest. He reached over and placed his hand on one of the branches before turning to face Alfred and Arthur again. 

“What do you think, boys?” he asked proudly.

It was a nice tree, for sure. It was thick and the branches were spread pretty evenly. It was a tad smaller than what Alfred had been thinking of but definitely larger than Arthur had imagined. It looked like it would only just fit into the space that Alfred and Arthur had prepared for it back at the apartment.

“It’s perfect!” Alfred exclaimed, bouncing up and down excitedly. He turned to Arthur with a huge smile on his face. “Isn’t it amazing, Arthur!?” he asked.

Arthur forced a smile, though his soft laugh was genuine only because of how cute Alfred was when he was excited. “Yes, I suppose it is,” he agreed.

“Then it’s settled! We’re getting this one!” Alfred exclaimed.

“Perfect,” the owner said, chuckling ever so softly. “Then I’ll help you boys get this all tied up.”

Alfred helped the owner carry the tree from the aisle to where the car was parked and helped him tie it up while Arthur fished the money out of his wallet to pay for it. Once Alfred and the owner were sure that the tree was secure, Arthur handed the owner the money, smiling softly at him. The owner took the money happily and smiled right back at him.

“Thank you for helping us out without trying to make things a hassle. I really appreciate it,” Arthur told him as Alfred stood by the car, waiting for Arthur to join him.

“Well of course, sir! I was happy to help! Thank you for buying one of my trees!” the owner replied.

Arthur’s smile widened. “Yes, well, happy holidays, sir. I hope you have a good one,” he said, and began walking back to the car.

“Same to you, boys!” the owner called out, waving to Alfred and Arthur as they got in the car. “Merry Christmas!”

Alfred waved back to the owner as Arthur pulled out of the parking lot. Arthur, of course, was much too focused on the road behind him to wave back to the owner. He was praying to God that there was no one else in the parking lot at the time. It would really kill the day if Arthur had accidentally run over someone while trying to back out of the parking lot of a Christmas tree farm.

“How in the Hell is anyone supposed to be able to look behind them with a damn tree strapped to the roof of their car…” Arthur muttered under his breath, waiting until he had backed out just enough to make a sharp turn to get out of the parking lot.

“Relax, babe, you’re doing fine,” Alfred assured, taking his attention off of the owner and instead looking over his shoulder to help Arthur navigate. “If you’re having a hard time we can switch. I can drive if you want me to,” he offered.

“No, no, it’s okay. I think I’ve got it it,” Arthur said dismissively, finally being able to pull that sharp turn to get out of the parking lot.

“If you say so…” Alfred said, leaning back in his seat and turning the radio on again.

“So where are we going to next, then?” Arthur asked, pulling onto the main road.

“Well that’s up to you I guess,” Alfred replied, looking over at Arthur. “The specialty shop is right next to our apartment but the Walmart is back a little further.”

“Let’s just go to the specialty shop first, then. It’ll be easier that way,” Arthur replied.

“Sounds good to me,” Alfred said, smiling once again.

It took half an hour to get back to the apartment and ten minutes more to drive down to the specialty shop. It was a hole-in-the-wall little shop sandwiched between a French cafe and a Dollar General. It was called _Adda’s_ , named after the late wife of the sweet old man who ran the shop. Everything in it was hand-crafted by the man who owned it and his children, or sometimes they were made by other people who had been looking to get quick cash off of whatever it was that they had brought in. You never knew what you would find in that shop, and that was exactly why Alfred loved it so much. 

Arthur had to parallel park between two cars who were already parked parallel to the curb of the sidewalk that ran along the block. Alfred got out of the car to put some money in the parking meter while Arthur double-checked his parking job and then turned the car off. Alfred waited for Arthur to get outside before pulling the door of the shop open and holding it for Arthur.

After Arthur had gotten into the shop, Alfred followed him, letting the door close slowly on its own behind him. When the owner, Ben, heard the bell on the door chime, he came out of the back room to greet Alfred and Arthur as they came in. Alfred waved to him jovially, and Arthur simply nodded at him with a smile.

“Good afternoon, boys. What a pleasure to see you again,” he said, smiling at both of them fondly.

“Afternoon, Ben!” Alfred exclaimed. “We came here to buy Christmas ornaments!”

“Oh, is that so?” Ben inquired, walking out from behind the counter so that he could be closer to them. “Well, lucky for you I just put our first batch out. The little’uns learnt how to paint bulbs last month and that’s all they wanna do ever since. Not to mention the specialty ones that me and the older ones crafted.” 

“Well, can you show us where they are?” Alfred asked. 

“Of course I can,” Ben replied, and happily led Alfred and Arthur to the aisle where all of the ornaments were being displayed. 

Alfred rushed over to them as soon as he saw them. The bulbs were neatly packaged into groups of five, and the specialty ornaments were lined up next to each other on one of the shelves. Each of the bulbs looked so different from one another. There were so many different patterns and colors. The specialty ornaments were made to look like so many wonderful Christmas characters. There were Santas and snowmen and angels and reindeer and little children who were all bundled up for the cold. Alfred fell in love with every single one of them. 

“So like, how many ornaments in all do you have out today? If you even know?” Alfred asked as he marvelled over the ornaments. 

“There are forty bulbs out today and twenty of the others,” Ben told him. 

“I want all of them,” Alfred said.

Arthur and Ben both choked on air. 

_”All of them?”_ they said in unison. 

Alfred smiled at them broadly. “Yep! All of them! There’s sixty ornaments here and they’ll go perfectly with the ones we already have!” he exclaimed. 

“Well, if you’re sure…” Ben said, laughing a little.

“Positive!” Alfred declared. 

“Well, I guess I’ll wrap them up for you, then,” Ben said, and went to the back of the room to get some packing paper and bags to put all of the ornaments in.

Alfred helped Ben pack everything up, and Arthur grabbed most of the bags while Alfred walked with Ben to the cash register so that Alfred could pay for the ornaments. Alfred pulled his wallet out of his pants pocket and quickly retrieved his credit card from it. He swiped his card at the register to pay for the ornaments, and when everything was settled he put his card away and walked over to Arthur to take a couple bags from him.

“Thanks for the ornaments, Ben!” Alfred called as he and Arthur walked back to the front of the store.

“Thank _you_ for buying them, boys! And thank you for stopping by! Merry Christmas!” Ben called back.

“Merry Christmas!” Alfred and Arthur said together, and then exited the store. 

The car that had been in front of Alfred and Arthur’s car when they had parked earlier was gone now, so it would be easy for them to get out of their parking space. They set the bags of ornaments on the floor in the backseat of the car, so that they would be snug and wouldn’t call over during the drive. Once again, Alfred returned to the passenger seat, and Arthur returned to the driver’s seat. 

“Do you think it was a good idea for us to buy _all_ of the ornaments, Alfred…? It was a bit pricey and I’m not sure we’ll have room for them all on the tree,” Arthur said, pulling out of the parking space and beginning the drive to Walmart, which would hopefully be their last stop for the day.

“Are you kidding? We should probably get a few more ornaments when we get to Walmart. I mean sure we already have quite a few between the two of us, but it’s a big tree and there are a lot of branches to cover!” Alfred exclaimed. “Besides, did you see how happy it made Ben? He’s gonna be able to get some nice stuff for his kids this Christmas with that money.”

Arthur smiled softly at what Alfred had said. He really couldn’t argue with a point like that. “I suppose you’re right. He and his family deserve to have a good Christmas. I’m glad we could help them,” he said. 

The Walmart was only a few minutes away from the specialty shop. Arthur quickly found a parking spot and turned off the car. He and Alfred were walking into the store within seconds. 

“So, what all do we need to get while we’re here…?” Arthur asked, grabbing a shopping cart as soon as he and Alfred were inside the store.

“Um… Lights, a tree topper, ribbons, tinsel, snow globes, maybe some little statues we can put on the shelves, some of those fake holly vines-”

“Whoa, whoa, Alfred, slow down,” Arthur said, becoming slightly overwhelmed with all that Alfred was suggesting. “I don’t know if we really need all that… Our apartment is pretty small, I’m sure it will look festive enough with just the tree.” 

Alfred frowned deeply. “No way! We’ll only have the tree in one room! We’ve got to do _something_ with the kitchen and the bedroom and the bathrooms!! That’s why we gotta buy a lotta lights and ribbons to string up _everywhere!_ ” he insisted. 

“Alfred this sounds like it’s going to get very expensive I really think that we should start small for right now and I’m sure that everything will-”

“Oh, come on, Artie. Relax a little, will ya? It’ll be fine, I promise! I’ve got the money for it! It’ll be great!” Alfred said. Arthur couldn’t get another word in before Alfred darted off towards the back of the store, to the aisles where the Christmas decorations were being displayed. 

With a heavy sigh, Arthur followed his boyfriend, pushing the shopping cart in front of him. By the time he had caught up with Alfred, Alfred was already carrying multiple strings of multicolored lights in his arms. Alfred dropped the lights into the cart and quickly began pulling other decorations off of the shelves to drop into the cart. 

“Alfred, slow down, please- This is too much we really don’t need all of this if we buy all of this we’re going to have to take stuff back, Alfred we really don’t have the room or the money for this please stop and think about your plans where do you think we’re going to put all of this- Alfred are you listening to me? Alfred??” 

Alfred was too caught up in his own bubble of excitement to pay any attention to what Arthur was saying. He was babbling to himself loudly about how cool everything was going to look when they were all finished decorating. The cart became more and more full with every minute that passed. Eventually, it became so overwhelming for Arthur that he simply could not let Alfred continue, and he stopped Alfred in the only way that he knew how.

Arthur stepped away from the cart and walked over to Alfred brusquely and grabbed him by the shoulder. He grabbed the pack of ribbons that Alfred was carrying out of Alfred’s hand and threw it back onto the shelf. Alfred looked at him like a kicked puppy, but Arthur wasn’t finished yet.

“This is _enough,_ Alfred! You haven’t listened to a bloody word I’ve said all damn day! I’ve been trying to tell you since we set out this morning how overwhelmed I am and how we don’t have the money for all of this and you won’t bloody listen to me! Would you _please_ take a step back and think about someone other than yourself and something other than your fantasies for once!?” 

Alfred’s expression fell even more. “I-I’m sorry…” was all that he could manage to stutter out. 

Arthur let go of Alfred’s shoulder and backed away a little. “Just buy what you want. I’ll be waiting in the car.” Arthur said nothing more before quickly walking away from Alfred and walking back towards the front of the store. 

Alfred felt terrible. He really hadn’t realized that all of this had been stressing Arthur out so much, but what was worse was that he didn’t even know why. All he knew was that Arthur was angry with him, and now shopping for Christmas decor had been stripped of its fun and excitement. 

With a heavy heart, Alfred put everything that was in the cart back onto their respective shelves, deciding not to buy any of it because of how upset it had made Arthur. He quickly pushed the empty cart back to the front of the store and walked back to the car empty-handed. Arthur was waiting in the driver’s seat, just as he had said that he would be. 

Arthur didn’t glance at Alfred as he opened the passenger-side door and got into the car. He was looking out of the window on his door. Alfred said nothing as he got into the car, closed his door, and buckled his seat belt.

“You didn’t put anything in the trunk?” Arthur asked quietly.

“I didn’t buy anything,” Alfred replied, looking at his feet. 

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and turned his head to look at Alfred finally. “Why ever not?” he inquired.

Alfred shrugged. “You were really unhappy so I didn’t want to get anything. I thought it would make you more upset,” he said. 

Arthur sighed softly and reached over to place his hand on Alfred’s thigh gently. Alfred looked up from his feet and looked at Arthur’s face instead. He still looked like a kicked puppy, and Arthur felt terrible. 

“I’m so sorry for yelling at you, darling. I’m not upset with you, I promise. I know you didn’t mean to overwhelm me. I just wish you would listen to me better sometimes so that we can compromise,” Arthur said. 

“I just wanted us to have a big Christmas because it’s the first one that we’re spending together. I wanted to make it special. It just didn’t occur to me that a special Christmas for you would be something small,” Alfred said. 

Arthur moved his hand from Alfred’s thigh and ran his fingers through Alfred’s hair instead. “I want you to have what you want, Alfred, but you have to understand that we have to be frugal sometimes. I know it’s the holiday season but we still have bills to pay and food to buy, and sometimes less is more. Do you get what I’m saying?” 

Alfred nodded, leaning into Arthur’s touch ever so slightly. “I understand. I’m sorry that I got ahead of myself. I just wanted us to have fun,” he said.

“I know you did, darling,” Arthur said, and leaned over to kiss Alfred’s forehead. “Now, how about we go back into the store and buy the rest of what we need. Let’s just keep it simpler than you had in mind, okay?” he suggested. 

Alfred smiled faintly and nodded quickly. “Okay!” he agreed. 

Arthur smiled at Alfred as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car again. “Come on, Arthur, hurry!” he shouted excitedly.

Arthur chuckled softly and got out of the car as well. He shut the door behind him before following after his boyfriend at a much quicker pace than he had been walking all day. Maybe it really wasn’t such a bad idea to have a little bigger Christmas than he was expecting this year, especially if it made Alfred happy.


End file.
